Flatmates
by shushsabrina
Summary: Just like every other witch or wizard, Draco Malfoy is moving to the Muggle world as the Wizarding World is being 'revamped'. When he can't find any flats to stay in, he is forced to share one with his Hogwarts lady nemesis, Hermione Granger. Will this help their relationship grow, or will this set them against each other even more?


**Hello! This is my first ever published fic that I want to finish. I would love it if you could follow/fav it because it keeps me writing more and more. I promise next chapters will be longer, I'm just testing this thing out. Reviews are fab so don't forget to leave one. Thanks! ;)  
****-Sushi**

CHAPTER 1

Draco Malfoy's POV

"Aren't there any empty flats?" Draco Malfoy demanded, raking his platinum-blond hair with his fingers in frustration.

"None that I know of," Greg shrugged, taking a generous sip of his coffee.

Anger and annoyance clouded Draco's mind. Where was he supposed to live?

"Can't I live with you?" he asked, forced to retreat to his last option. Greg barked with laughter, black coffee spraying out of his mouth. He shook his head vigorously.

"Where am I supposed to stay, then?" Draco said, his voice rising to a shout.

"There is a flat for two, but it's taken by a lady. You can share with her." suggested Greg, smirking slightly.

"Who's the lady?" asked Draco, trying to sound non-chalant.

"Um.. Harmony Greggus, if I'm not mistaken," he said, struggling to remember the name. A memory tugged at the back of Draco's mind. To be exact, a memory of a fist flying towards his face, hitting him square in the nose.

"I'll check it out," nodded Draco, standing up noisily. He had a place to stay in. With Hermione Granger.

Hermione Granger's POV

"The Fault in Our Stars," Hermione Granger murmured, admiring the cover of the young-adult book by John Green. She was just about to open it when her phone rang.

"Hello?" she greeted, keeping the annoyance out of her voice.

"I'll be coming to your flat, yeah?" Greg said from the other end of the line.

"All right," she sighed, clicking her phone off. Her eyes returned to the book. Her fingers slowly ran through it, about to open it, when...

"Harmony!" yelled Mr Carstairs the landlord, appearing in the doorway. Between those two wretched adults, she would appreciate just a second to read her book.

"What? And it's Hermione!" she scowled, standing up to look at him.

"Guests in front, should I let them in?" he asked. Them? Who was Greg bringing? Hermione nodded and collapsed on her sofa again. This time, she didn't even bother to take out her book. Mr Carstairs thundered down the steps again.

"Harmony!" boomed Greg, striding inside her room like he owned the place. Hermione smiled at him and realised that he had brought someone. A pale, lean figure. As he neared, a jolt was sent through her- she recognized that face, there was no doubt about it. It was Draco Malfoy.

"What are you doing here?" Hermione bellowed, her face white with fury. "Get your filthy, traitorous arse out of my flat!"

She expected him to retaliate, to sneer at her or call her Mudblood. To her surprise, he sighed wearily and shrugged. "Greg, you do the talking," he said indifferently, eyeing Hermione carefully.

"Yes, well, Mr Malloy here," Greg started. Draco hissed something and Greg corrected himself immediately. "Mr Malfoy here is looking for a flat." Hermione raised her eyebrows at him. Where was this going?

"I told him that this is a flat for two, and he needs a flat, whereas you're the only one here, so.." Greg trailed off, clearly sensing the tension between them. Hermione glared at Malfoy, who flushed. A pink tinge appeared in his pale cheeks.

"I'd rather share this flat with a whale than share it with him," she seethed, her eyes shooting daggers at Greg and Malfoy.

"Apparently, Granger," Malfoy started, recovering his cool-boy demeanor. "I've paid and Mr Carstairs has given me the keys." He jingled a silver key in his palm.

Unconsciously, Hermione's fists balled into knuckles. "I have no choice, don't I?" she snarled. "Just because we'll be living in one flat, it doesn't mean that we'll be sleeping in one bed- or even one room- because I have a boyfriend. Nor does it mean that we are friends, or even acquaintances. Harry did save your life, and you still act like a rotten dirtbag, so don't get your hopes up." She heard a snort and her head whipped to Greg, who flushed.

"Yes, Mr Malfoy," Greg said, nodding quickly. "I shall leave you two to, ah, set the rules." Beaming at both of them, he left the room, bouncing on the balls of his feet.

"So," Malfoy said as soon as they were alone, folding his arms.

"So," Hermione said menacingly. "You will stay out of my way and keep out of my room or else the incident in our third year just might happen again."

Malfoy scowled. "To be honest, Granger, I will never let anything like that happen again because I will fight back this time."

Hermione gave a small smile. "Good to know that you've grown out of your sissy habits, Malfoy." Before he can retort or see her smile, she turned away and slammed the door behind her.

Draco Malfoy's POV

Some day this was starting to be. It really had to start with that Granger girl yelling at him. He will not tolerate this. Draco Malfoy will not be shouted by Mud- Mudbl-, nevermind. The M word is intolerable to a point of death, and it is a title no one deserved, no matter how 'muddy' their blood is.

He sank into the sofa, his unfortunate arse landing on something hard. Swearing under his breath, he pulled out the item and found himself holding a book. 'Same old Granger,' he thought seethingly, rifling through the book. As a second thought, the book actually seemed quite interesting to the point of worth reading. Eventually finding a comfortable reading position, he started reading the book.

Hermione Granger's POV

The first thing Hermione did when she had entered her room was burying herself in the pillows. Should Ron know about this? He obviously would be upset about this whole living-with-their-nemesis thing, and so would Harry and the Weasleys.

She grabbed her phone and dialed Ron's number. As usual, he picked up a second later.

"Hermione," he said by way of greeting.

"Ron, I want to get out of my flat. Meet me in Starbucks in ten, bring Harry only?" she said without preamble. She could hear Ron's surprise and Harry's nearing footsteps, silently wondering what was going on.

"Um, yeah, see you in ten," Ron answered at the other end of the line, clicking off. Hermione pulled on her favourite linen coat, shoving her phone into her pocket while locking her room.

"I'll be going out- don't touch my room, don't even try to come near it-" she instructed, turning around to give Draco a stern look. Surprisingly, Draco was spread out on the couch royally, his long legs hanging from the edge. In his hands was Hermione's new copy of The Fault in Our Stars. "and why are you reading that?"

It took him a few moments to answer her. "It's actually interesting, G. Can I read this, by the way?" _G?_ Seriously? She wanted to say no. She had to say no. No, Malfoy. That's all she had to say. A freaking no.

"Sure, go read it," she found herself saying.

"Where're you going, anyway, G?"

"A place where ferrets can't go, apparently," she said, smirking. Before he could reply, she closed the door and rushed down the stairs.

It all felt like a blur as she hurried past the busy streets of Muggle London to Starbucks. She shoved herself inside the door and threw herself into a seat only to find her best friends appearing through the door a second later.

Ron smiled at her, a smile that showed his crooked front teeth that Hermione treasured. He dropped a kiss on her lips and took the seat opposite her. Harry hugged her, his wild, messy, dark hair tickling her ear.

"What's up, H?" Ron initiated conversation. Hermione tried not to wince. H reminded her of the way Malfoy had called her G.

"Don't call me H," she replied. "I'm fine, though."

"It sounded like a distress call, you know," Harry said, fixing his glasses. "Hermione Jean Granger, the damsel in distress, who calls her knight in shining armour, Ronald Bilius Weasley, to save her from her tragic demise." Harry was grinning, and the grin eventually reached Ron and Hermione's mouths too.

"What've you been up to?" Hermione asked, once all of them had sobered up a bit.

"Learning puns from Tumblr," Harry answered, drawing himself up proudly.

Hermione suppressed a smile. "Puns? From Tumblr? Merlin, Harry. Can you even make puns?"

"Sure! I have a list of 'em," he said with a grin. He reached inside his pockets and pulled out a crumpled sheet of paper. "They're not tear-able."

Hermione and Ron both cracked up at this. Ron because he probably had never heard a Tumblr pun in his life, and Hermione because she knew this pun and it was increasingly overused in the Tumblr world.

"As for me, I've been opening up to Muggle music," Ron said, chortling. "The Muggle world has pretty decent songs, you know."

"Yeah? Name a few," Hermione said, trying not to smile too wide.

"Uh, that One Direction thing songs are pretty cool, although their voices sound flat to me and they're just a bunch of pretty boys," Ron shrugged. "These Little Mix people are growing on me, though."

Harry chimed in. "Those music stuff they play at the radio? Trash, I say. Now, country music, singer-songwriter, that's music. That Nina Nesbitt lady or that American girl? Taylor Swift? Both someone to check out."

Hermione sighed in exasperation. "Harry James Potter, girls are not bags or shoes to be 'checked out'." She was not exactly a feminist, but she fought quite strongly for girls' rights as she did just now. "Plus, let's not make this a battle of the genres. Ron likes pop, Harry likes country, I like bands in general. Big deal."

Despite Hermione's protests, Harry and Ron started bickering over Country VS Pop. Even though they were friendly-ly arguing-, Hermione felt elated. She was back with her best friends, she was safe and happy.

"Do you want to come to our place?" Ron asked, a friendly smile on his good-natured face.

"I'll be fine," Hermione waved him off. They all ordered drinks and talked like they used to in the Three Broomsticks. Memories of Hogwarts stabbed Hermione like a sharp knife again. Reliving the final years of Hogwarts was like being cut in every part of your body.

All of a sudden, Draco Malfoy popped into her mind. His cruel, mean smirk. His Slytherin tie. The way the hair at the back of his head curled up slightly. The way his eyes lit up when he laughed. His sharp, cunning voice.

Then she thought about her moments with Draco Malfoy. Predictably, the first time she met him appeared in her head. He had said his name with such power and force that showed he was fearless, he was capable of doing anything and he would for his special girl. With a jolt, Hermione realised that her heart was aching to be that special girl.

"Starbucks to Hermione," Ron said, frowning. Hermione returned to reality with a shudder._ 'Stop thinking about Malfoy,'_ she told herself sternly._ 'Don't think about him when you're with your best friend and your boyfriend.'_

"If you're tired, we'll take you back," Harry proposed, his emerald green eyes watching her with concern.

"I- yeah, I'm so sorry. I feel tired. I can take myself," she told them, handing them part of the bill before running out of the shop. As she walked through the familiar path to her flat, she thought about Draco Malfoy again.

Why was he on her mind? Okay, maybe she had a tiny crush on him earlier in Hogwarts. But now? Nope, she was dating Ron and Draco was her enemy.

She kicked the door open to find Draco still on the couch, book in hands. Surprisingly, his grey eyes glistened with tears.

"Malfoy?" she tried, staring.

"Don't. Don't come near me. I just- I don't even- he died." Draco mumbled. His eyes looked sad and lost.

"Oh come on, don't get emotional over a book," Hermione whined, tryingnot to laugh. He was not listening to her. He was staring at the book in his hands, although it was obvious that he was not reading anymore. He glared at the book.

"I didn't realise the cool Slytherin guy would cry over a book," Hermione smirked, swallowing her laugh. Draco ignored her.

"Can I have the book back, then?" asked Hermione kindly, holding her hand out. Draco did not return the nook. In fact, he did not move at all.

"What the hell is wrong with you, Malfoy?" Hermione demanded, upset that he was being so quiet,

Wordlessly, Draco returned the book to her and made his way to his room. He yanked the door open, stopping in his tracks and turning to Hermione.

"He_ fucking_ died, Hermione."

And he slammed the door.

**Yay! This is the first chapter. Please forgive any spelling/grammatical/punctuation errors. I'm looking for a Beta reader, so if anyone's interested or if anyone has a rec, I would really appreciate it. Remember, Sushi is in need of a Beta! That's all, really.  
****-Sushi**


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